Before the summer school I had made a selection of fine cords in my colour scheme and in her feedback Sian had suggested grouping them together then applying them, but how to achieve this.
In the back of my mind was a television programme, part of a series made by Dr. Jago Cooper, exploring ancient civilizations (something I find endlessly fascinating) of South America. What was appearing through the fog in my mind were knotted cords made by the Inca. They were arranged in various lengths, knotted along their length and tried to a base cord. In the image below they almost look as if they might be a collar. On investigating further the knots turned out to be formed by twisting and knotting the cord in three different ways.
Even more exciting than the look of this artefact was its purpose. My preferred explanation for its creation was as a story-telling device, a holder of history and memory. Another explanation is as an abacus or some way of keeping accounts, but that's not really to my taste, though I can see how that idea sprang to mind.
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| 1.1 Inca Quipa Knots |
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| 1.2 Forming Quipa Knots |
Quipas, a brilliant collection of these in the Smithsonian, always intrigued by these, a great way to keep notes about you and also pleasing to the eye! Great to see you progressing with the course
ReplyDeleteThank you for the tip about the Smithsonian, just taken a look. My storytelling interpretation might turn out to be pie in the sky. Hope your work's going well.
DeleteHow fascinating - I didn't know about these knotted cords. It seems ideal to use this with your piece and you can encapsulate your own personal stories in it.
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